Member hobby spending

[pirate]

Hi guys,
To use as a tool to entice hobby vendors to pay for advertising placement in the SubCommittee Report, I am conducting a survey of our members spending habits.

What we dish out in hobby expenditures as a club is a big motivator for companies to pay for our cheap advertising rates in the Report—R.O.I.

Newspapers and magazines use circulation to persuade advertisers. But because of the small size of the R/C sub community, that is not a factor with the SubCommittee Report, but the amount of money we spend is. And especially in these hard times, I believe any potential additional revenue we can provide to potential advertisers has to be extra attractive right now.

So in order to supply them with this info I need to get it. Please fill out the attached poll. Remember, I'm asking for your average "YEARLY" spending for your hobby. This includes all materials and supplies purchased, not only what you spend on models, and it's not only on submarine items. Even things like resins and fiberglass if you use them. Include any expenditures you have for all your modeling hobbies. And think back 2-3 years. I know the last year has probably been low, so including the last 2-3 (average) will get a bigger number, while still accurate.

Thanks for your help. With luck, the goal would be to generate enough revenue to greatly subsidize the production of the SCR and SubCommittee events and expenses. This could help keep membership rates steady.

But don't worry, we don't want to become beholden to the advertisers. This will remain a club magazine for the club members. And I have no intention of limiting the magazine content to make room for a lot of ads. If need be we can even add pages to accommodate more advertising.

Pete Piekarski
Managing Editor
The SubCommittee Report

[Guest]

Can't fill in response on

Can't fill in response on form.

[raalst]

should work now.

Can we

should work now.

Can we somehow keep this data from SWMBO ?

[pirate]

What is SWMBO?

What is SWMBO?

[raalst]

She Who Must Be Obeyed

She Who Must Be Obeyed

[pirate]

Very good!
Don't let her see

Very good!
Don't let her see what button you check.

[tmsmalley]

There are three prices you

There are three prices you pay for a submarine...

1) The price you paid
2) The price you tell HER you paid
3) The price you pay when she finds out what you paid!

[Rogue Sub]

I usually tell her "I

I usually tell her "I have had the boat for awhile, dont you remember" or "no thats the same boat as before"

[kazzer]

I applaud the SC for

I applaud the SC for wanting to improve the SC Report and obtain more advertising, but personally I don't think this poll will help much. I will find the result mildly interesting, but not to the point of paying for much advertising.

According to Don Osler's recent letter in the SCR we have some 567 members currently, most of them, I am fairly sure, have Internet access to this forum. It looks like membership is actually decreasing, but I can't be sure of that.
Looking at it purely from a business man's point of view, I cannot see the justification in paying for an advert, when I have access to the forum and almost all the 567 members. It's a very small number of readers!

The magazine is exceptional, a really good read for both old and new model submariners, and a real asset which will bring in many new members, if only they ever got the chance to read it, and there is the problem!

We have a shrinking membership, and no real plan to improve it, yet the SCR is a wonderful tool, if only it were properly exploited.

I would suggest that the SC take a long, hard look at getting this magazine to market. It should be on all major newsagents stands, in airports, and anywhere magazines and books are sold.

Sales of the magazine would increase revenue, and more importantly increase membership. Perhaps even bringing in thousands of new members - and customers for the eager vendors. I am a 'fairly frequent flyer' and I find the airport magazine rack pretty boring and predictable. I know I would have picked up an SCR just because of the 'boy's toys' appeal of it.

This hobby generally has very few ways of reaching the general public. If I could see new members coming in every day and brisk sales of the magazine, I would be a major advertiser and article contributor (thanks to Merriman) in the SCR. Nothing would please me more.

[lobo]

Mike has a point.
SC has

Mike has a point.
SC has a fantastic publication that would be a fantastic resource for attracting new members. All that is needed is a little thinking outside the box to make it happen. SCR is a product ready to sell & is very marketable as is.

I see something interesting occurring on E-Bay right now with Paul Crozier's auction on one of his sub hulls.

A potential bidder is inquiring to Paul regarding his auction for the hull on where he would obtain a WTC for the hull. It is obvious the potential bidder is unfamiliar with such things. He may already be a radio control enthusiasts with planes or cars, maybe even boats; but not submarines!

Paul answered the E-Bay member, and took the opportunity to direct him (thankfully) to the SC site for more info.

Now I am thinking....E-bay would be a quick & easy venue to get the word out...why not market SCR on E-Bay for a "Buy it Now Price" with a great description of how it will help those interested on how to break into the R/C submarine hobby!

That's right...as an added bonus your subscription to SCR will also include a one year membership to SC! (OK, we won't make it sound so cheezy...but you get the point)!

SCR is a great publication.....To use an old marketing cliche...let's sell the sizzle (SCR) & not the steak (SC)! They will come back for the steak a year later!

So...what do you guys think? Would E-Bay be a good first step in getting SCR out to the public?

[kazzer]

So...what do you guys think?

So...what do you guys think? Would E-Bay be a good first step in getting SCR out to the public?

Our experience of Ebay was very negative. We sold over $10k a month on there, but the commissions and fees amounted to approx 35% of the sales price. That chewed into our margins dreadfully. We had been selling on Ebay for several years and so the sales figures and fees we not a 'flash-in-the-pan'. We quit Ebay several years ago and were glad to do so. It might be useful to someone who is clearing out some junk, but for a business to expect a profit, I consider it doubtful.

You are also reliant on someone typing in 'submarine' in the search, so something has to trigger the potential customer to want to look for that topic, whereas if the SCR were on the shelf of a newsstand, it would create genuine interest and be picked up on an impulse buy.

I personally would not touch Ebay with a barge pole as a marketing tool for the magazine, but don't let that stop the ideas flowing here.

[thor]

Is Mike correct in stating

Is Mike correct in stating that we only have 567 members???

Matt

[kazzer]

Is Mike correct in stating

Is Mike correct in stating that we only have 567 members???

Matt

I quoted Mr. Osler's statement in the last edition of the SCR. He was the membership chairman, so I guess the figure should be pretty reliable.

[thor]

Miike,

Wow! I did not realize

Miike,

Wow! I did not realize the SC membership had dropped that far. I guess I have been away long enough that I did not realize this had happened. I thought the membership has always been pretty stable around 1,000 members....I must be living in the past.

Matt

[Rogue Sub]

Current membership sits at 600

To

Current membership sits at 600

To be more correct your membership would be #602 Mr Thor